Tele Vue TV-60 60mm f/6 apo body

This TeleVue TV-60 refractor optical tube is an amazing little scope. A review of the TV-60 in the December 2004 Sky & Telescope magazine said, "If you think that size matters and that bigger is always better when it comes to telescopes, think again . . .

"My first serious use of the TV-60 tested the 'Take Me Everywhere' portability touted by the manufacturer (on a trip to Italy to view Venus Transit of June 2004.) The transit made me realize that the TV-60 just might be the ultimate scope for eclipse chasers . . . As I have come to expect from observing with TeleVue's other short-focus apo refractors, the views with the TV-60 are essentially free of false color . . . Even at 120x, brilliant Vega, one of the most challenging stars for a refractor to image cleanly, appears as a blue-white Airy disk surrounded by several white diffraction rings and no perceptible color halo . . .

"After many nights of observing, I'm comfortable recommending an upper limit of 180x for the TV-60, which is 75x per inch of aperture. I achieved this magnification with the 2-mm setting on the TeleVue 2-to-4-mm Nagler Zoom eyepiece. It offered exceptional views of binary stars (especially the well-known Double-Double in Lyra) and the Moon . . .

"The pint-sized TV-60 could match the best high-power view I have ever seen in a quality 60-mm f/15 refractor. And the TV-60 could do something those other scopes couldn't: offer a stunning wide-field experience . . . With just three eyepieces - the 24mm Panoptic and the 9- and 2.5-mm Naglers - I spent hours wandering the Milky Way from Sagittarius to Cassiopeia."

This Telescope's Optical and Mechanical Systems . . .

Apochromatic SD doublet optics: 2.4" (60mm) aperture, 360mm focal length, f/6 apochromatic doublet lens using an SD (Special Dispersion) glass element. Images are essentially free from spurious color (chromatic aberration), even at magnifications over the theoretical limit of 60x per inch of aperture (as noted in the review above.)

Multicoated optics: Fully coated on all surfaces with multiple layers of antireflection materials for high light transmission and good contrast.

Dual-stage focuser: The 2-stage 1.25" focuser uses a quick-focus drawtube for initial focusing, plus a separate helical-focusing eyepiece holder for fine-tuning the image sharpness once you've reached an approximate focus with the drawtube. Nylon thumbscrews lock in the drawtube focus and hold optional 1.25" optical accessories securely in place.

Dew shield: The scope comes with a sliding captive dew shield to slow the formation of dew and act like a camera lens shade to improve contrast by blocking ambient light (from a neighbor's back yard security light, for example.) A camera-style snap-in plastic dust cap protects the optics from damage while stored or traveling.

Star diagonal: No star diagonal is supplied, as most observers buy the TV-60 as a second 'grab and go' scope and therefore already have a star diagonal from their primary telescope. This allows you to equip the TV-60 with the optical accessories that best suit your observing style - such as an in-line Porro prism or a 45º image erecting diagonal for terrestrial observing, or a 60º or 90º star diagonal for astronomical use.

Eyepiece: As with a star diagonal, none is supplied, as it is assumed that the buyer already has a selection of eyepieces from his or her primary scope. A good optional basic eyepiece might be TeleVue's 11mm Plössl. This premium eyepiece provides a magnification of 33x, with a field of view more than three times as wide as the full Moon. Optional shorter focal length eyepieces and/or Barlow lenses will provide high powers to let you examine details in the storm belts of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the mountains of the Moon, and much more. And the resolution of those details will be crisp and detailed, often visibly superior to larger telescopes more easily affected by atmospheric conditions. The maximum power for lunar/planetary viewing is 180x, with the optional 2-4mm Nagler Zoom. Put in an optional longer focal length (lower power) eyepiece and the TV-60 becomes a true rich field telescope, capable of scanning wide scenic vistas by day and revealing multitudes of large, faint deep space objects by night. With an optional 1.25" 40mm TeleVue Plössl (9x, with a 4.3° field), the TV-60 is not only a surprisingly good little rich field scope, but it is its own best finderscope, as well. It's also excellent as a terrestrial spotting scope for vacations, birding, or nature studies. In addition, optional camera adapters turn the TV-60 into excellent 360mm (7.2x) f/6 telephoto lens for terrestrial and lunar photography.

Finderscope: No finderscope is supplied or needed. As noted above, with a 40mm TeleVue Plössl eyepiece, the TV-60 its own best finderscope.

Mounting system: The TV-60 has an adjustable dovetail balancing bar mount that fits on any optional sturdy photo tripod for casual use, or on an optional equatorial or altazimuth mount (such as the TeleVue Tele-Pod and Panoramic mounts and the Vixen/TeleVue PORTA mount) for more serious observing. An available optional X-Y axis adjustable mounting bracket (#TVXYA) allows the TV-60 to be used as a superfinder on TeleVue refractors, while a separate adapter (#TVXYC) allows it to be used on Celestron and Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, as well as on TeleVue scopes. The balancing bar system allows the TV-60 to be moved fore and aft on your mount or tripod to balance the weight of different eyepieces or a camera.

There are few optical systems that combine into one very compact body the ability to be customized into a serious astronomical telescope with true apochromatic optics, a terrestrial spotting scope, and a top-quality telephoto lens - but the TV-60 does it surprisingly well. Whether you want to observe the skies from your back yard on the spur of the moment, or travel round the world with a very portable telescope that will reveal and photograph everything nearby and distant, you'll find it hard to beat this truly exceptional TeleVue small refractor.

• 60mm apochromatic doublet optics
• 2-stage drawtube/helical focuser
• Retractable lens shade
• Dust covers
• Carrying pouch